Posted
by
timothy
on Friday September 17, 2010 @08:16PM
from the waiting-for-cheaper-data dept.

silverpig writes "The first Google Voice app has hit the app store, and it's called GV Connect. Providing a front end to the Google Voice service, GV Connect allows users of devices running Apple iOS platform to have a native app with which to interact with Google Voice. What will be interesting to note is the order that these apps are approved in. I know Sean Kovacs was first out with GV Mobile back before Apple banned Google Voice, and while he is in the approval pipeline, this other app has some first mover advantage. I wonder what it means when Google gets their app officially approved, as surely it'll be free."

The iOS versus Android argument to me comes down to that I prefer open source but what is the point of having the source to crap. Not that Android is really crap but the UI is poorly designed and the lack of control of end devices by Google results in a wide, and confusing, user experience. I get frustrated at the number of people new to open source or not even developers that like to rant about the evil that is Apple and the good that is Google. Obviously they haven't a lot of experience with the nice way Google makes it difficult to hack around on other devices they sell such as the Google Search Appliances (which I have). I think both Apple and Google are leading technology companies and both make some great products.

If I was going to make my own device I'd start with Android to build from but I'd copy a lot of iOS design decisions at the UI level and iDevice design decisions. I'd also keep a lot more control than Google has done as I think Android gets a lot of the negative light coming off of the devices it runs on. And many devices are difficult to even run an unlocked copy of Android on which defeats the entire benefit of having the source. And comparable Android devices are no cheaper, and often are even more expensive, than an iDevice. I'm looking for a good Android tablet to develop on but there Google seems to be unsure if they want to push Android or Chrome OS.

Apple's biggest short coming is lack of third party devices. If I was Google, along with fixing the UI and ecosystem issues, I'd be all over that as a way to really be better than Apple. I'm not talking supporting USB and SD, which are anti-features IMO, but defining good interfaces for mobile devices, licensing it for free, and really pushing it.

Since nobody is paying me to make my own device I'm going to choose to own iDevices. At least until I see an equal Android device and see the Android ecosystem become equal.

I actually prefer many of the UI features of Android over that of iOS. I don't have a huge amount of exposure to either, but from a small amount of exposure to both, I prefer Android. Perhaps it's a matter of what you get used to.

And many devices are difficult to even run an unlocked copy of Android

Even with a locked Android phone, I can still do things that an iPhone user couldn't possibly dream of doing because his phone is so locked down. And besides, not all Android phones are like that, some get rooted right away.

on which defeats the entire benefit of having the source.

Not if you're a developer, if you're doing anything complex, having access to the source can significantly cut down your development time.

And comparable Android devices are no cheaper, and often are even more expensive, than an iDevice.

And for good reason, superior hardware is expensive. For instance, Steve Jobs was given the chance to make the iPhone 4 with a Super-AMOLED screen, a

"And for good reason, superior hardware is expensive. For instance, Steve Jobs was given the chance to make the iPhone 4 with a Super-AMOLED screen, a bigger screen, and with a GPU three times faster."

You know, I can understand if you complain about one of the actual disadvantages in an iPhone 4, but you're making shit up at this point. Super-AMOLED is fail, and even Samsung is moving away from it now. As for a bigger screen, how big do you want? I think some of the 5" devices are a little bit big. I'd

which phone has a 3x better GPU? I'm genuinely curious. What benchmarks?

The GPU of the iPhone 4 can render 28 million triangles per second. [educatedsquirrel.com] The GPU of the Samsung Galaxy S can do 90 million triangles per second. [intomobile.com] Both those phones are using the same Samsung processor, the Hummingbird (even if Apple is calling it something else), so don't get any idea about the iPhone 4 having a faster processor in this case (but an inferior GPU), you couldn't even make that point if you wanted to.

As for a bigger screen, how big do you want? I think some of the 5" devices are a little bit big. I'd rather not go back to wearing a beltclip from 1996 for my phone, thanks.

Give it to me as big as the iPhone 4, except without the large ridiculous border around it. Go into

If all you can say is "Android is open," as an improvement over iOS, then it's not an improvement, because for the vast majority of people, it's just as locked down as an iPhone. For about.001% of the phone-buying market, it's "open". For the rest, it's simply a tool the carriers will use to control the customers.

Not everyone lives in the USA, well actually most people don't! I mean, lockdown by carriers seems to be pretty bad in the US if it's true what people say here on slashdot. But this doesn't apply to most other countries (our telco market over here is regulated, once you own a phone you really own that phone).

Your argument would hold more weight if it weren't for the fact that AT&T has had many negative effects on iOS despite the fact that iOS isn't open. (recent example: tethering) So yes, carriers can exploit the openness of Android to screw their customers, but they also can, and have, make Apple do their bidding. So it appears that the issue of whether your carrier will screw up your phone is orthogonal to whether the OS is "open". In that case, I'll take open.

I haven't tried this one and I really don't enjoy GV Mobile, so I'll likely continue using the web interface. Notifications about SMS and voice to my Google number get sent to my gmail and then I see them. I don't see how it is that different than push, unless your phone is silent or you ignore e-mail. The only time it has caused problems for me was a conference in Berkley, but it was cause AT&T had little service, so I was screwed whether folks had my Google number or my AT&T number.

Considering how long it took Apple to approve this app, push notifications won't come via an update any time soon. At least this settles the FCC inquiry. I was worried when Apple reviewed my app for three days, I couldn't imagine the anxiety of waiting on Apple to finish a year long "In Review" status update.

Can people quit saying "the app store" when they mean "the Apple app store"? This usage bothers me because it assumes there are no other app stores (or at least none worth mentioning). Android Market is the notable rub here and there are at least ruminations plenty more popping up all the time. On top of this, and probably more importantly, it's confusing and ambiguous until you get half way through the summary and realize they're talking about something else entirely.

I know someone who did. A week after she got her 3G it was snatched right out of her hands by a thief in Rome. You only get the discount from AT&T once every 18 months, so to replace it she had to fork out around $700. This was before "Find My iPhone" was available.

those are most likely subsidised prices with a mandatory 18-24 month contract depending on your carrier.

a factory unlocked available in many countries but not the US iPhone with no contract costs around $500-$700 depending on which model you want. almost every other smart phone will cost around that much with no contract.

If you want comparable features, you will be paying about the same amount for an android phone, so the point that everybodys spending 500 on an iPhone when they could be getting much cheaper android phones is bullshit, presuming you're not also sacrificing features and capability.

well the previous iPhones had a camera and the iPod Touch didn't, the new iPhone 4 has a better screen and better camera, also it's built differently using different more expensive techniques. Also I am not sure of the numbers but maybe the iPod Touch benefits more from economies of scale?

It also might be licenses they have to pay for the chips and technology?

And you only have to lock in for 2 years and have a minimum plan. There are Android phones that are only a little more than this and no plan and no lock in.
To buy outright with no plan they are not $199.

Technically this isn't the first Google Voice app in the app store. There were GV apps years ago, then Apple yanked them in short order. This marks the return of GV apps, not a new arrival of the kind.